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Emotional Responses to Tragedies Will Cost Our Great Nation Dearly

“You cannot regulate or legislate murder or evil away. You can’t stop these shootings from happening. They happen and will continue to happen regardless of laws or limits we place on inanimate objects.”

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We were a country of laws and people who are known for being self-sufficient, self-reliant, strong, and inventive. We led the world in inventions and creativeness. We are known the world over for being a “free” country. Why do you think the US has so many people trying to come here to live?

But now, all I see and hear on our media and on the internet, social media platforms, and more are calls for a reduction of that freedom. We have been doing just fine for decades. Murder has been going down by double digits (check the DOJ statistics), and we have seen a reduction in all types of violent crime. Why is that? I am sure there are many reasons. But none of those reasons is because we have reduced people’s rights.

We had 59 people killed, murdered by guns—not in Las Vegas but in Chicago in the month of September. Yet we heard nothing on the national level about that

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People are having an emotional reaction to the murder in Las Vegas. I understand completely. Having held people as they die and take their last breath, I know death. Having investigated fatal car crashes for years as a LEO, I had to tell more than one family of the death of their loved one. I know the pain and anguish these types of things cause. No one wants to see or have to experience any more of them. But therein lies the issue.

You cannot regulate or legislate murder or evil away. You can’t stop these shootings from happening. They happen and will continue to happen regardless of laws or limits we place on inanimate objects. Because when you think you have figured out how to stop the next mass killing, the killers use a car, truck, or plane. We had 59 people killed, murdered by guns—not in Las Vegas but in Chicago in the month of September. Yet we heard nothing on the national level about that. Why? Because it does not play into the emotional attack that people need to try and take away your rights “for the good of all.”

Think about this statement for a minute. “You cannot make people safer by taking away the things that make them safe.” In other words, regulating firearms any more than they are, or limiting any of the currently available firearms. In fact, there is only one thing that will deter or prevent the next murderer from attacking a target—you knew of the pending attack. If you could not stop it but only make it less likely to succeed or reduce the number of casualties, what would you do?

Here is my recommendation to reduce the number of mass murders involving firearms, and you have not heard it anywhere else…

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Provide more armed security? More law enforcement presence? Why? Because they carry firearms. And the only way to stop an armed attacker is with an armed response. Why in the world do you think cops carry firearms? Because it’s a deterrent and is needed to respond to armed attackers. Pretty simple. So what makes anyone with half a brain think that taking any firearms away from the law-abiding citizens of this great country will make them safer?

When there is any threat to the safety of our people in this country, how do we make them safer? We post armed security or police. However, this would not have stopped the Las Vegas murderer because of how the positioning and location were chosen.

Here is my recommendation to reduce the number of mass murders involving firearms, and you have not heard it anywhere else yet. Instead of making it harder to purchase firearms by law-abiding citizens, make it easier. Allow people to carry a firearm openly or concealed if they choose.

Gunfree zones?

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Outlaw them, except for certain places. Instead of outlawing things that will not affect criminals one single bit, allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families. For once, realize that the vast majority of people in this country are good, decent, law-abiding people, and we should not let the very few who aren’t cause us to regulate the rights of the majority.

Chris Wagoner is a U.S. Army Veteran and has been in law enforcement the last 35+ years. He specializes in LE Firearms Instruction, and is in charge of a large Police Academy in North Florida. In his spare time Chris is a freelance writer and posts his articles on "Down Range with Chris Wagoner".

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